Magic Mushroom Ban a fact in UK!

[Alfa]

The ban on psilocybe mushrooms is proof that prohibition of drugs is not because of public health or for the common good. in the case of mushrooms there is an overflow of proof against this.


IMO it is now time to empty supersoakers full of myceliumwater in on the domains(fields & gardens) of the officials. Followed by letters to those officials that they are now officially noticed that their domains host psilocybe mushrooms, which will be illegal after they put this ban into effect. Should be fun, shows how stupid the law is and is good for the media to. And you do want those blattering on this.

[gambit]

Great idea I had thought of something like this.I think we should do this on the green outside the houses of parliament though, not on the officials' gardens.I don't belive we have the right to confrontthe individualscarrying out the Govenment's wishes. Can you get Myceliumwater? We will need to be quick though or we'll get nicked for having mycelium which might contain psilocybin.


Let me know if you want to do this and I'll come back from Bhutan,the place where the tigers sleep amongst the lilys.

[gambit]

Alpha which Mr Powell are you?

[gambit]

I think vermiculite would be more impressive and would show up better on newsprint. It's also easier to get hold of. There is a march being planned on 15th March I will get details posted as soon as I have them.

[Phungushead]

Anyway, if anyone cares, here's a recent article about some studies with
psilocybin (among other psychedelics as well)... sorry about the size and all,
but I for one found it very interesting.

Psychedelic medicine: Mind bending, health giving
26 February 2005
From New Scientist Print Edition.

John Horgan is a freelance science writer based in Garrison, New
York. His latest book, Rational Mysticism (Mariner Books), was
published in paperback last year

JOHN HALPERN clearly remembers what made him change his mind about
psychedelic drugs. It was the early 1990s and the young medical
student at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York, was getting frustrated
that he could not do more to help the alcoholics and addicts in his
care. He sounded off to an older psychiatrist, who mentioned that
LSD and related drugs had once been considered promising treatments
for addiction. "I was so fascinated that I did all this research,"
Halpern recalls. "I was reading all these papers from the 60s
and going, whoa, wait a minute! How come nobody's talking about
this?"

More than a decade later, Halpern is now an associate director
of substance abuse research at Harvard University's McLean Hospital and
is at the forefront of a revival of research into psychedelic medicine. He
recently received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
give late-stage cancer patients the psychedelic drug MDMA, also known as
ecstasy. He is also laying the groundwork for testing LSD as a treatment for
dreaded super-migraines known as cluster headaches.

And Halpern is not alone. Clinical trials of psychedelic drugs are
planned or under way at numerous centres around the world for
conditions ranging from anxiety to alcoholism. It may not be long
before doctors are legally prescribing hallucinogens for the first
time in decades. "There are medicines here that have been
overlooked, that are fundamentally valuable," says Halpern.

These developments are a remarkable turnaround. Scientists
first became interested in psychedelic drugs - also called hallucinogens
because of their profound effect on perception - after Albert
Hofmann, a chemist working for the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Sandoz,
accidentally swallowed LSD in 1943. Hofmann's description of his
experience, which he found both enchanting and terrifying, spurred
scientific interest in LSD as well as naturally occurring compounds
with similar effects: mescaline, the active ingredient of the peyote
cactus; psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms; and DMT, from the
Amazonian shamans' brew ayahuasca.

At first, many scientists called these drugs "psychotomimetics"
because their effects appeared to mimic the symptoms of
schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. However, many users
rhapsodised about the life-changing insights they achieved during
their experiences, so much so that in 1957, British psychiatrist
Humphry Osmond proposed that the compounds be renamed
"psychedelic", from the Greek for "mind-revealing". The term caught on,
and psychiatrists started experimenting with the drugs as treatments
for mental illness. By the mid-1960s, more than 1000 peer-reviewed
papers had been published describing the treatment of more than
40,000 patients for schizophrenia, depression, alcoholism and other
disorders.

A prominent member of this movement was Harvard psychologist Timothy
Leary, who among other things tested whether psilocybin and LSD
could be used to treat alcoholism and rehabilitate convicts.
Although his studies were initially well received, Leary eventually
lost his reputation - and his job - after he began touting
psychedelics as a hotline to spiritual enlightenment. Leary's antics
helped trigger a backlash, and by the late 1960s psychedelics had
been outlawed in the US, Canada and Europe. Unsurprisingly, clinical
research ground to a halt, partly because obtaining the necessary
permits became much more difficult, but also because few researchers
were willing to risk their reputations studying demonised substances.

But to some brave souls, psychedelic medicine never lost its allure.
One of them is Rick Doblin, who in 1986 founded the
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in
Sarasota, Florida, and who earned a doctorate from Harvard's Kennedy
School of Government after writing a dissertation on the federal
regulation of psychedelics. For nearly 20 years MAPS has lobbied the
FDA and other government agencies to allow research on psychedelics
to resume. It has also persuaded scientists to pursue the work and
raised funds to support them. A similar body, the Heffter Research
Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was founded in 1993 by scientists
with an interest in hallucinogens.

In the past couple of years their efforts have begun to pay off.
Doblin is optimistic that psychedelic research is back for good, and
this time it will do things right. "This gives us the chance to show
that we have learned our lessons," he says. Halpern, too, is anxious
to lay to rest the ghost of Leary. "That man screwed it up for so
many people," he says.With this in mind, Halpern says the first
task for him and others is to evaluate the safety of psychedelics. And they
are up against an entrenched orthodoxy: a 1971 editorial in The Journal of
the American Medical Association warned that repeated ingestion
of psychedelics causes personality deterioration. "Only a few of those
who experience more than 50 'trips' are spared," it warned.

So Halpern's first big foray into psychedelic research was aimed at
risk-assessment. In the late 1990s he launched a study of members of
the Native American Church, who are permitted by US law to consume
peyote. Halpern examined 210 residents of a Navajo reservation in
the south-west US, who fell into three categories: church members
who had taken peyote at least 100 times but had had little exposure
to other drugs or alcohol; non-church members who abstained from
alcohol or drugs; and former alcoholics who had been sober for at
least three months.

Halpern tested the subjects' IQ, memory, reading ability and other
functions. His interim results showed that church members had no
cognitive impairment compared with the abstainers, and
scored significantly better than recovering alcoholics. Church members
also reported no "flashbacks" - sudden recurrences of a psychedelic's
effects long after the initial trip. Halpern believes this study,
which he expects will be published soon, shows that contrary to the
1971 editorial, peyote at least can be taken repeatedly without
adverse effects.

He is now conducting a similar assessment of MDMA. This drug is
sometimes called an "empathogen" because it heightens feelings of
compassion and reduces anxiety. Anecdotal reports suggest it has
therapeutic potential, and some psychiatrists used it alongside
psychotherapy before it was outlawed in 1985. However, anecdotal and
scientific evidence have also linked MDMA with brain damage, though
the research is controversial.

Ecstasy impact
Judging the true impact of MDMA is complicated by the fact that
users often combine it with other drugs and alcohol. To get around
this, Halpern recruited a group of American mid-westerners who
admitted taking MDMA but said they shunned other substances. He
separated them into "moderate" users, who had consumed MDMA 22 to 50
times, and "heavy" users, who had taken it more than 50 times.

Halpern recently reported in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence
that, compared with controls, heavy users displayed "significant
deficits" in mental processing speed and impulsivity. Moderate
users, however, had no major problems. Halpern believes this shows
that MDMA's benefits may outweigh its risks for certain patients.
And apparently the FDA and the McLean Hospital agree, since both
have approved Halpern's plan to test MDMA as an anti-anxiety drug
for a dozen late-stage cancer patients. Halpern still needs permission from
the Drug Enforcement Administration, but he expects to begin recruiting patients soon.

He is also interested in the potential benefits of the true
hallucinogens. In 1996, he reviewed almost 100 substance abuse trials
involving LSD, psilocybin, DMT and ibogaine, an extract of the African shrub
Tabernanthe iboga. Halpern found tentative evidence that the drugs can
reduce addicts' cravings during a post-trip "afterglow" lasting for a month or
two. Exactly how this happens is something of a mystery. A popular theory is
that the benefits stem from the drugs' psychological effects, which
include profound insights and cathartic emotions, but Halpern suspects
that there may be a biochemical explanation too.

For now, however, Halpern isn't planning to pursue addiction
therapy. He is more interested in another medical use for LSD and
psilocybin: treating a debilitating condition known as cluster
headaches. These attacks appear to be caused by swelling of blood
vessels in the brain and are worse than migraines. Sufferers say the
pain exceeds that of passing a kidney stone or giving birth without
anaesthetics. They affect about 3 in every 1000 people sporadically,
and 1 in 10,000 chronically. "There's a tremendous potential need
for this," says Halpern, who investigated the problem after being
approached by a patient group.

Many patients get little or no relief from painkillers, but some
claim that small doses of LSD or psilocybin can alleviate the
headaches and even prevent them from occurring. Halpern was
intrigued; LSD is chemically related to ergot, a naturally occurring
compound that constricts blood vessels, and the derivatives
ergotamine and methysergide are commonly prescribed for migraines.

Halpern and his Harvard colleague Andrew Sewell are now gathering
evidence to persuade licensing officials - and themselves - that LSD
and psilocybin merit a clinical trial. Sewell has gathered more than
60 testimonials from cluster headache sufferers who have treated
themselves with LSD or psilocybin.

Another member of the vanguard in the psychedelic revival is Charles
Grob, a psychiatrist at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los
Angeles, California, and co-founder of the Heffter Institute. After
years struggling to get permits, Grob says he is slowly moving
forward with a study into using psilocybin to reduce distress in
terminal cancer patients. He points out that studies done in the
1960s suggested that psychedelics can help patients come to terms
with their impending death. So far Grob has treated three patients,
but he hopes to enrol more subjects shortly.

Grob has also led several investigations like Halpern's peyote
study, but looking at ayahuasca, the DMT-rich shamanic brew.
Ayahuasca often causes nausea and diarrhoea, and its psychedelic
effects can be terrifying, but Amazonian shamans nonetheless prize
it for its visionary properties. Since 1987 it has been a legal
sacrament for several churches in Brazil, the largest of which is
União Do Vegetal. UDV combines elements of Christianity with nature
worship, and claims 8000 members.

In 1996 a team led by Grob reported in the Journal of Nervous And
Mental Disease that UDV members who regularly took ayahuasca were on
average physiologically and psychologically healthier than a control
group of non-worshippers. The UDV followers also had more receptors
for the neurotransmitter serotonin, which has been linked to lower
rates of depression and other disorders. Many of the UDV members
told the scientists that ayahuasca had helped them overcome
alcoholism, drug addiction and other self-destructive behaviours.

More recently, Grob has found that adolescents who grew up
participating in ayahuasca ceremonies showed no ill effects and were
less likely to engage in crime and substance abuse than members of a
control group. Of course, Grob acknowledges that they could be
benefiting from the social effects of membership in a church as well as
the effects of ayahuasca itself. Grob plans to publish these
results this year.

Several other scientists are quietly pursuing psychedelic research.
Since 2001, psychiatrist Francisco Moreno of the University of
Arizona in Tucson has been testing psilocybin as a treatment for
obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychotherapy and antidepressants such
as Prozac help many patients, but some have such severe symptoms and are
so resistant to treatment that they turn to electroshock therapy and even
brain surgery. As with the work on cluster headaches, Moreno's study was
motivated by reports from people with OCD that psilocybin relieves their
symptoms.

So far, Moreno has given both sub-psychedelic and psychedelic doses
of pure psilocybin to nine treatment-resistant OCD subjects, in a
total of 29 therapy sessions. His preliminary findings suggest firstly
that it is safe to ingest psilocybin, which was a primary concern of the
trial. Beyond that, Moreno calls his results "promising", but won't discuss
them further, since he plans to submit a paper to a peer-reviewed journal
this year.

Meanwhile in Charleston, South Carolina, physician Michael Mithoefer
is carrying out a MAPS-sponsored clinical trial of MDMA as a
treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD affects up to 20
per cent of people who experience a traumatic event, and involves
distressing symptoms such as nightmares and panic attacks.
Conventional treatments typically consist of cognitive therapy and
antidepressants, but many patients don't respond to these. In the
past year Mithoefer has given "MDMA-assisted" psychotherapy to six
treatment-resistant patients, all traumatised by violent crimes; he
plans to treat 20 patients in all.

The longest-running psychedelic therapy programme started almost 20
years ago in Russia. Evgeny Krupitsky, a psychiatrist who heads a
substance-abuse clinic in St Petersburg, has treated more than 300
alcoholics and about 200 heroin addicts with ketamine. Used
primarily in veterinary medicine, ketamine is an anaesthetic that
can trigger an extremely disorienting hallucinogenic episode lasting
an hour or so. Krupitsky's subjects often emerge from their sessions
filled with revulsion for their past lives and determined to change.
The therapists encourage these feelings with tricks such as forcing
the subjects to sniff a bottle of vodka at the peak of their
session; the patients' disgust often persists long after the
ketamine's effects have worn off.

In one of Krupitsky's studies, 73 out of 111 alcoholics stayed dry
for at least a year after their session, compared with 24 per cent
of those in a control group. Yet his programme, which was funded by
MAPS and the Heffter Institute, was recently shut down because the
Russian government tightened restrictions on ketamine. Although
Krupitsky says he and his colleagues "are in the process of getting
permission to continue", it may be several years before research
resumes.

Although disappointed by this setback, Doblin is encouraged by
developments elsewhere. He is lobbying officials in Spain and Israel
to approve studies of MDMA for PTSD, and is raising funds for a
substance-abuse trial of ibogaine outside the US together with the
Heffter Institute. MAPS has also supported Frans Vollenweider, a
psychiatrist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, who has done
basic research on the physiological effects of psilocybin and
MDMA, and hopes to begin clinical research soon.

Doblin's primary goal is to see psychedelics legally recognised as
medicines. But he also hopes that someday healthy people may take
these substances for psychological or spiritual purposes, as members
of the Native American Church and União Do Vegetal do, and as he did
in his youth. After all, drugs such as Prozac and Viagra are already
prescribed not just to heal the ill but also to enhance the lives of
the healthy.

It is still an uphill struggle. Government funds for psychedelic
studies are hard to come by, and drug companies have shown
absolutely no interest in supporting the research. But there are
signs that the wind is changing. Although psychedelics are still
classified in the US as schedule-1 drugs, and so are banned for all
non-research purposes, in November a US Federal Appeals Court in
Colorado ruled that a branch of the UDV based in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, could import ayahuasca for use in ceremonies. Among the
research findings cited in the court decision were Grob's studies
showing no ill effects from ayahuasca. The Department of Justice is
appealing the decision, but if the Supreme Court denies the appeal,
UDV members in the US will be able to ingest ayahuasca legally.

Maybe, just maybe, after more than 30 years in the wilderness, this
powerful, misunderstood but potentially mind-healing class
of drugs is ready to be rehabilitated.

[gambit]

Very interesting phungus,thanks for sharing that.


Folks there's a fighting fund being organised to challenge the govenment's descision to ban mushrooms.It's being organised by people in the head shop industry and could achieve quite some success. It's being promoted on www.entheogendefencefund.co.uk.check it out and consider making a donation. There are three main grounds for the judicial review they plan,which are;


1/ It infringes basic human rights


2/It contravenes common law


3/it breaks EU trade law articles 28-30


They say they need about 20k to do this and I see no reason why that can't be achieved.

[Alfa]

Checkout this press release about clause 21, which Release and Transform have published.


http://www.tdpf.org.uk/ReleaseTransf...gs%20Bill_.pdf

[cannabis man]

i wonder which politians really have it in for mushrooms aswell, rollercoasters are bad for people with heart conditions there still legal and can be used by ppl with heart conditions.

'THIS MAN HAS A BAD HEART'

[antigenesis]

If I lived in the UK I'd be buying shrooms like mad crazy, waiting for the underground plunge. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

[Alfa]

Shroom fans can carry on tripping


Law banning sale of psychedelic fungi will not come into affect until JulyMark Honigsbaum
Saturday June 18, 2005



GuardianIt's good news for new age hippies but bad news for festival-goers fed up with the phrase "look at the groovy colours". After weeks of prevarication, the Home Office has said that a law reclassifying magic mushrooms as class A drugs will not be implemented before the end of July, meaning that psychedelic fungi can be legally consumed during the summer festival season which opens at Glastonbury next weekend.


The delay follows the threat of a legal challenge to clause 21 of the Drugs Act 2005, which bans the importation and sale of magic mushrooms and confusion in the Home Office over how best to draft regulations so as to exempt landowners, many of whom may be unaware they have a banned drug growing on their property, from prosecution.


British dealers have raised nearly £10,000 with a view to seeking a judicial review of the legislation with the help of Dutch wholesalers for whom the UK has become a lucrative export market for psychedelic fungi.


Last week lawyers for the Entheogen Defence Fund wrote to the Home Office to say they believed the ban on the importation and sale of magic mushrooms was in breach of European free trade laws and asking how ministers justified their advice to parliament.


Articles 28-30 of the European community treaty only allow restrictions on trade between member states where they can be shown to be necessary for the "protection of health and life".


Caroline Flint, the Home Office minister who spearheaded the legislation through parliament prior to the general election, said mushrooms could trigger psychosis and there was evidence users could be at risk of self-harm.


But Treasury solicitors have said that one of the studies which ministers relied on was a report by the Dutch Coordination Centre for the Assessment and Monitoring of new drugs (Cam) which came to a different conclusion.


Far from recommending a ban on psychedelic mushrooms, the 2004 Cam study found that although a bad trip could lead to anxiety, on balance mushrooms did not present any risk to individual health.


The study also found that there was no evidence to link magic mushrooms with psychosis and that, unlike alcohol, mushrooms did not lower users' violence threshold. Since consumption usually took place at home or in the open air, "there is no inconvenience caused to other people" it concluded.


Although psilocin and psilocybin, the active chemicals in the mushrooms, are controlled under Dutch law, the fresh product is not - a position similar to the current British regulations which only ban dried mushrooms and their products.


In a letter to the EDF's lawyers yesterday, the Home Office said ministers would issue a statement about implementing the law next week. Since it takes 21 days for legislation to become law once an order is laid before parliament, the earliest that the ban could come in is the end of July.


"Clearly the Home Office is on the back foot," said Mike Bashall, the EDF's chairman. "I would suggest there's no point in their implementing clause 21 at all. They'd be better off waiting to see what the courts decide."


The EDF is confident it has a case for judicial review and It expects to file its application before the end of August.


Magic mushrooms have become a booming business in Britain since traders seized on a loophole in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to offer fresh Cubensis mushrooms for sale at market stalls and via the internet. The mushrooms produce feelings of euphoria, comparable to ecstasy, and mild visual hallucinations, notable for their enhanced colours. Fans include the Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher and the New Musical Express magazine, which declared 2004 as the "third summer of love" thanks to the resurgence of interest in mushrooms at Glastonbury.


Female friendly



This week, under the headline, The New Cocaine: Who's taking it now? Elle magazine described how magic mushrooms were an accompaniment to chardonnay at dinner parties hosted by young urban professionals.


One 27-year-old PR from Manchester quoted by the magazine said: "Women are realising it's actually quite a female friendly drug ... it's a far gentler trip than taking acid, more like being stoned and really giggly."


But converts may be disappointed to learn that Glastonbury does not share their enthusiasm. Festival organisers said anyone caught selling fresh psilocybe mushrooms at Glastonbury would be ejected by security.


"The festival is psychedelic and strange enough as it is," said a spokesman yesterday. "Whether or not the Home Office considers them legal, our policy is not to permit their sale."


But one vendor said most traders had obtained their permits for the festival before they knew mushrooms were to be granted a reprieve and would seek to find a way round the policy.


"I'll have to seek what the situation is when I get to Glastonbury but as long we are subtle about it I don't think we'll have too much trouble," he predicted.

[Alfa]

LAST ORDERS FOR MAGIC MUSHROOM ENTHUSIASTS

Last Orders For Magic Mushroom Enthusiasts

Bad news for psychedelic fungi fans. There are just 24 more shopping days before magic mushrooms are declared illegal - and that's official.

Ignoring pleas from mushroom retailers and consumers, the government yesterday announced that clause 21 of the Drugs Act 2005, reclassifying psilocybe mushrooms as a class A drug alongside heroin and crack cocaine, will come into force on July 18.

From that date, importation, possession or sale of magic mushrooms will be punishable by a life sentence, effectively outlawing sales via market stalls, head shops and the internet.

Laying the statutory instrument before parliament, the Home Office said the only exception would be for wild mushrooms, growing on uncultivated land.

Landowners who are unaware they have a controlled substance, or who pick the mushrooms with the intention of delivering them to the police, will also be exempted.

Transform, the drug policy group which has been a vocal critic of clause 21, immediately condemned the Home Office's decision, saying the exemptions did little to clarify what it considered flawed legislation.

"How is someone supposed to know what is uncultivated?" asked Transform's director, Danny Kushnick. "This has nothing to do with clarifying the law or goods drugs policy. It's simply about shutting down vendors who have been selling mushrooms."

The Entheogen Defence Fund, a group set up to protect the interests of mushroom retailers and consumers, said the announcement would make no difference to its campaign to have clause 21 overturned through judicial review.

Declaring criminalisation of magic mushrooms a retrograde step, it predicted the reclassification would simply encourage more youngsters to try ecstasy, LSD, heroin and cocaine.

"The sale of 100,000 kilos of magic mushrooms per annum has had a big impact on the reduction of the illegal use of soft and hard drugs," said EDF's chairman, Mike Bashall. "Expect more crime and more deaths related to illegal drugs."

Backed by Dutch wholesalers, for whom the UK has become a lucrative export market for psychedelic fungi, the EDF has raised UKP10,000 to challenge the British legislation. It points out that in the Netherlands the sale of magic mushrooms is legal and says that clause 21 could be in breach of European Union law making it illegal to place restrictions on free trade except in specific circumstances, such as for the protection of health and life.

Caroline Flint, the Home Office minister, who spearheaded the legislation through parliament shortly before the general election, said mushrooms could trigger psychosis and there was evidence users could be at risk of self-harm.

However, a Dutch study found no evidence to link magic mushrooms with psychosis and said that mushrooms did not lower users' violence threshold.

Since consumption usually took place at home or in the open air, "there is no inconvenience to other people," it concluded.

[Woodman]

Man, that's just more sad news in a week full of sad
news.

It's just not right.

[TranceAddict]

Alfa, for what country is this for?

[ramjet]

sad news indeed, but thanks for the warning Alfa. Time to stock up ...



Not sure whether a challenge to the legislation on the basis that it
restricts freedom of trade would work, as any member state can justify
such a restriction on certain grounds, set out by the EC Treaty and
subsequent case law. The prevention of crime and morals are two
examples, and I'm sure the government could fabricate some information
to show that magic mushroom sales undermined the war on other drugs or
some such rubbish. Still worth a try though

Edited by: ramjet

[Alfa]

This ban concerns the UK. I doubt the EU trade would work against the Misuse of drugs act. But as you say, it's worth the try.

[ramjet]

The ban concerns the UK, but as it indirectly affects trade between member states (Holland and the UK). Article 28 EC Treaty prohibits "quantitative restrictions on imports and all measures having equivalent effect" As the ban affects products within the UK as well as/to the same extent as imported products from Holland the ban won't amount to a "quantitative restriction", but it may amount to a "measure having equivalent effect".


The problem is that with "measures having equivalent effect" the guilty member state has TWO potential defences available to it. The first is the treaty exception in Article 30 which states:


"The provisions of Articles 28 and 29 shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants; the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value; or the protection of industrial and commercial property. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however, constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States."


The UK would probably try to argue this particular indirect restriction on trade is justifiable on grounds of "public policy" (eg it's inconsistent to have fresh mushrooms legal where dried mushrooms and drugs like cannabis and E are illegal) or "public morality". All dubious of course, but the ECJ is unlikely to so flagrantly attack the autonomy of a member state by rendering it's legislation void, even though it could do this as EC law takes precedent over any member state's national law.


Secondly, it can use the justification set out in the case "Cassis de Dijon". The UK would have to prove


i) that the ban was part of mandatory requirement of the state, which it is.


ii) that the measure was a proportionate one given its indirect affect on trade within the EC. This is arguable. If the UK was really concerned about public health or morality there are probably less draconian means of ensuring this than an outright ban. For example, they could have passed a law ensuring that mushrooms all had to be of a certain quality or that sellers were obliged to place certain warnings on their product and that buyers must be 18 or over.


As you say, a long shot, but there is a small chance. Stranger decisions have been made by the ECJ, but thenthe case probably wouldn'teven get that far. Even if the action is brought,it won't be years untilthere is a ruling on the matter.Edited by: ramjet

[billbong]

i will be opening my own headshop (well a stall) in the northants area soon.

(if there is anything in my post that shldn't b please remove it, but i feel so strongly i'm gonna open my own shop, even if i lose money, ppl need to openley defend their rights, even if it won't get us anywhere)Edited by: billbong

[Sky Walker]

They have been legal in Britain for years. They will soon be illegal.

[billyloner]

not long to go may be worth stocking up before the ban comes into place... i just bought a shed load of mushrooms and truffles to dry and keep for a rainy day

[Alfa]

On the 18th, themushroom ban will come into effect.

[Nature Boy]

That's bad news for England. I wonder why they're banning them? I hope our government don't copy yours like they usually do and eventually re-ban them.

[PenguinPhreak]

It's very sad to see that Britain is banning the selling of mushrooms
despite how successful it was, hopefully they will stay legal in
Ireland for a long time.

[bushman]

The mushroom ban disgusts me!! A complete and utter disgrace!

[BlueMystic]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4691899.stm



Magic mushroom ban becomes legal

A law banning magic mushrooms and making them a class A drug comes into force on Monday.

The Drugs Act 2005 ends the situation in which fresh magic mushrooms were legal but those which were dried or prepared for use were not.

Sellers have condemned the move, saying mushrooms are not harmful and accusing ministers of a knee-jerk reaction.

But the Home Office said the drug was harmful to some users and added the move clarified the existing law.

Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said in a statement: "Magic mushrooms are a powerful hallucinogen and can cause real harm, especially to vulnerable people and those with mental health problems.

Psychedelic qualities

"The law has not been clear with regard to the status of fresh magic mushrooms and some have tried to exploit this apparent loophole."

Magic mushrooms, more properly known as psilocybe, contain the psychedelic chemicals psilocybin and psilocin.

These chemicals were already class A but previously the law did not apply to fresh or raw magic mushrooms which contain far less of the drug gram-for-gram than when dried.

Under Clause 21 of the Drugs Act 2005, it is now an offence to import, export, produce, supply, possess or possess with intent to supply magic mushrooms, including in the form of grow kits.

Exceptions will be made for people who unknowingly pick the mushrooms in the wild or find them growing in their garden, and critics have argued the act will be difficult to police.

Magic mushrooms have risen in popularity dramatically in recent years, especially since becoming openly available over the internet or at about 400 "headshops" around the country.

According to Home Office figures, use of the fungi has risen 40% in a year, with more than a quarter-of -a-million people estimated to have taken them in 2003/04, compared with 180,000 in 2002/03. However, they still represent a tiny proportion of all drug use.

Although some psilocybe mushrooms do grow in the wild, the vast majority of mushrooms sold on the open market come from mushroom farms in Holland.

Users of fresh mushrooms experience effects ranging from giggling fits and intensification of colours, lights and sounds to, more rarely, hallucinations. Negative effects can include vomiting, and anxiety.

'Patronising'

Critics of the ban say that the mushrooms are harmless to physical health and would only be bad for people with existing mental health problems.

"Obviously I would not suggest someone with schizophrenia took magic mushrooms but nor should they probably take alcohol," said Chris Bovey, owner of online retailer Potseeds, based in Totnes, Devon.

"Our customers feel patronised by the government, victimising them for doing something harmless and enjoyable in their own homes, just because they need to sound tough on drugs."

Others fear that the ban could mean an increase in accidental poisonings as people go foraging for mushrooms in the wild and mistakenly pick a toxic variety.

Mushroom retailers have formed the Entheogen Defence Fund and plan to launch a legal challenge to the change in the law, saying it contravenes European trade rules and the 1971 Vienna convention.

Mike Bashall, chairman of the EDF said: "We would have welcomed regulation because through regulation you do get control - as with alcohol.

'Seven years' jail'

"This is a badly-drafted piece of legislation that was pushed through the House of Lords without proper scrutiny or discussion."

A spokeswoman for drugs information body Drugscope said the government did need to clarify the law on magic mushrooms but should not have made them class A.

"To see magic mushrooms alongside crack cocaine and heroin doesn't seem proportionate," said Petra Maxwell.

"Now that they're class A if people are found in possession the ultimate, if unlikely, sanction is seven years in prison and a fine."

The law change does not affect another, much more rarely used magic mushroom: Amanita muscaria - more commonly known as Fly Agaric.

[Alfa]

TRIP IS OVER FOR MAGIC MUSHROOMS


FOR a tobacconist, Alan Myerthall sells an awful lot of mushrooms.


But no longer. From today, his particular brand of fungi is deemed illegal. Were he to continue trading then he could -- and very possibly would -- be jailed as a drug pusher.


So it is back to baccy, fags and cigars for the owner of the Pipe Shop in Edinburgh. For the magic mushroom, the trip is finally over.


From today, the government has reclassified the psilocybin mushroom as a class A drug, putting it alongside heroin, crack and cocaine.


This is bad news for fans of the fungi, many of whom are ageing hippies who first sampled the hallucinogenic qualities of the "shroom" back in the 1960s and the Summer of Love.


Now the importation, possession or sale of the substance will be punishable by law. Possession can result in seven years in jail, while possession with intent to supply could, in extreme cases, result in a life sentence.


The only exception will be wild mushrooms growing on uncultivated land. Magic mushrooms, which are in season in September and October, are common throughout rural Scotland.


The move to reclassify has depressed some people.


Mr Myerthall said: "It's taking a hammer to crack an egg. We've been selling them for two years. Our customers cover a broad spectrum -- students, lawyers, accountants, even doctors.


"We sold the last of our stock at the weekend.


"It will be a loss. We got most of our mushrooms imported from Holland, where they're grown. We've built up quite a trade and the government's been getting VAT on the sales. What will happen now is that the trade will go to the dealers and, obviously, they are not as scrupulous as us."


He added: "When I started up in the tobacco trade, I never envisaged that I'd end up selling mushrooms but now, with the smoking ban coming next March, things will only get more difficult. It's the goody-goodies who are running the show."


For some time, magic mushrooms, which the Aztecs called "the flesh of the gods", have been illegal when dried or otherwise prepared. The new law extends the ban to cover them in their fresh state.


However, there is considerable dubiety over the adverse effects of magic mushroom consumption. Some experts believe them to be potentially dangerous, saying that, while hallucinations are usually short-term, they can cause sudden flashbacks. This, in turn, can result in accidents.


Magic mushrooms, small and tan in colour, cause similar effects to LSD, and trips can last as long as eight hours, depending on the quantity consumed. They cost about AUKP5 for a bag of 30 and people usually take between one and five grams at a time. They are usually eaten raw. There is currently no significant black market for the fungi, although some observers argue that this could change now that the raw version has been outlawed.


The magic mushroom problem in Scotland is not considered to be particularly significant, according to drug agencies.


James Egan, of the Scottish Drugs Forum, which concentrates its efforts on the country's 50,000 hard drug users, said the scale of the fungi problem was illustrated by figures which showed that, in the year ending March 2004, a total of 12,657 new people contacted Scotland's various drug agencies.


Only 30 of them mentioned having problems with hallucinogenics, which would have included magic mushrooms.


The government's own Talk to Frank drugs helpline states on its website that magic mushrooms are not addictive.


The reclassification was described as "pointless" by Kevin Williamson, co-founder of Rebel Inc publishing, the former drugs spokesman for the Scottish Socialist Party and the man who last year tried to open a cannabis cafe in Edinburgh.


He said: "These things grow all over Scotland. I don't know how you could possibly ban them. There are no drug agencies reporting any problems with magic mushrooms, no police reporting any social problems.


"It's just part of the authoritarian clampdown. It's a piece of nonsense and a waste of time. People can just go out, pick them, take them home and use them."